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Y’all, in less than ONE month, What it Takes will officially be out in the world. At this time last year, that book was one crazy hot mess of NaNoWriMo scribbles, completely out of order, 50k of who knows what. Next thing I know, I’m getting a starred review in Publishers Weekly and they’re saying it’s a “tender and beautifully written love story”.

And now….now it’s almost in your hands!

So, a couple of things. First, wanna enter to win a free copy? Head over to Goodreads right here. Free copies of books are awesomesauce, trust me.

Other thing: starting 10 days before release I’ll be tweeting snippets from the book. Keep your eyes out for that. I try to # that but you know, 140 characters is freaking short! I’m not known for my brevity. I’m short but can’t keep it short. Ya know what I mean?

Third thing: I’m on grad school break! I have 3 weeks of FREEDOM. Well, if you call getting book #3 in shape to turn in… This also apparently means I am drowning myself in romance novels. Feel free to recommend one to me if you want, I love new books.

Thing the fourth: I also was thinking about posting excerpts from the book about once a week if y’all are interested? Lemme know. Popular vote wins 😀

As a tiny tease, I’ll give you a small snippet so you guys can get a taste.

~*~

He wakes up and lives his life, but there are days when he doesn’t think he’ll ever get through without Andrew helping him breathe with light touches and easy smiles. If he ever let himself, if he ever gave in to the sweet, silver thread of longing he has for Andrew, he knows he would somehow end up breaking everything.

ANYWAY, the point is that I am FINALLY announcing the winner of the Sock-Off contest! I got lots of great pictures of socks — you all have some fucking awesome socks — but the grand prize goes to Carol, who sent me a little collage of socks that included socks I have a burning need in my life for…the fuck you socks.

I should be clear that I am actually the nicest person and not generally angry, but man. Don’t you think that sometimes your feet need to tell people to fuck off? I mean, also, the perfection of these socks when you’re telling your roommate to stay clear so you can do it?? Especially with Cam and Nate’s friendship; this is exactly the kind of joke they’d share in the right spirit and laughter.

So congrats Carol!! Carol is the winner of a signed copy of Hush, or when it comes out if she wants, of What it Takes.

And I dropped the ball over here. I apologize; I can give a lengthy description of *why* I did, but that’s so besides the point right now. Because holy fuck was this a crazy good week for a writer. The stuff of dreams.

FIRST:Last weekend, I’m sitting around, wallowing in self pity because I have so much studying to do when I am contacted by my publisher with the crazy-pants news that I not only received a great review in Publishers Weekly, but that I received a STARRED review that is in it’s own little, eye-catching box. If you’d like to see how pretty it is, here ya go! I’d copy it here as an image, but the text is super blurry. As far as *what* they said, here you go:

“ … Sierra (Hush) uses rich characterization and lyrical writing to infuse this slow-building romance with depth, humor, and pathos. Readers will savor every dip and peak of Milo and Andrew’s relationship as they balance the need for safety with the necessary risk of pursuing happiness.” —Publishers Weekly

I am so freaking honored by this, I can’t even.

SECOND: So I’m still freaking out about this when it hits me Tuesday evening (while I’m in class…yes I was on Tumblr during class. This never happens but I guess I was bored), and the girl who sits next to me (a lovely friend), points out that I scrolled past the announcement of my book pre-sale going live. WTF?? Like, I know I’ve been mentioning it, but for some reason the reality of it being so close hadn’t hit me yet. Weird. You’d think that since I went through this rodeo with Hush I’d be used to this. Maybe this is the kind of stuff you never get used to? Maybe one day I’ll get to ask a crazy established author.

So pre-sale is awesome because you get a great deal– if you by the paper copy of the book (which you guys, the cover art is done so much more justice in the paper book. It’s gorgeous no matter what but it’s stunning in person), you get the e-book for free. The e-book is DRM-free and multi-format, which is awesome.

The book will be released on January 14th 2016, so put it on your calendars!

THIRDand finally: Sock Saturday Throwback Thursday contest is closed! I have to sort through the entries to pick a winner, but if you don’t win this one, rest assured there will be more contests in the future.

The end of my Throwback Thursday Sock Saturday contest is coming up (11/14/15): for those of you who have tweeted, linked or blogged your sock entries, thank you! Man are there some awesome socks out there.

For those of you who haven’t yet, send me your socks!! They can be made, bought, pinned, dug out of drawers mismatched…have at it. Remember, the winner of the contest gets their choice of a free signed copy of either Hush or my upcoming novel, What it Takes!

Sock Saturday is a little ritual I created for one of my main characters in Hush, Cam, and his roommate Nate. It was one of those moments that came to me, made me laugh, and have been told by readers that they enjoyed throughout.

Although there are tiny moments I could share with you from Hush, I thought I’d share an excerpt that is also one of my favorite moments in the book. The scene this is lifted from was lovely to write (even the intense sexy part that comes before this) — it’s one of the first time we see Wren let down some of his walls. It’s the first time he’s been unguarded enough to let himself get to know Cam. And for Cam, this was a favorite moment to write; so much of this book was this journey for him. I loved giving him this empowering moment.

~*~

“Won’t Nate be back?” he asks.

“Good point,” Cam picks his phone back up.

“What are you doing?” Wren turns onto his side, fluffing Cam’s pillow under his head.

“For the first time in two years, I’m soxiling him,” Cam says with a laugh. “I’ve never gotten to. Oh the power!” he jokes. Wren smiles and it’s the first true one Cam’s seen that looks true and easy.

“Help me find a good picture,” Cam puts his head close to Wren’s on the pillow and holds the phone up for both of them to look at.

“Of what?” Wren tilts his head to see.

“Socks,” Cam says.

“What the hell, socks?”

“You know how people used to do the sock over the door thing as a signal?” Cam asks.

“Oh,yeah,” Wren says.

“So Nate thought it was hilarious. but wasn’t going to do it. So he started texting me the word ‘socks,’ and eventually we started calling it ‘soxiling’. Or ‘Sock Saturday,’ because that’s usually when I get booted. Then he started sending me pictures of funny socks.”

“Hey, I have a question.” Wren half sits and looks at Cam seriously. “Have you, like, come out to anyone?”

“Well, they set me up with Jason, so yeah. I mean,” Cam shrugs. “I didn’t come out and say the words.”

“Hmm.” Wren lies back down. Cam is searching for the right pair of socks when Wren stops him. “Those.”

“Rainbow socks?”

“Make it official,” Wren says.

“What, should I add ‘Hey I’m gay’ or something?” Cam jokes, copying the picture and dropping it into a text.

“If you want to. I don’t know. I…when I finally came out, there was a lot of power in saying the words. It was…” Wren squints as if he’s struggling to find the words. “Really affirming and liberating.”

Cam thinks for a moment. “Not Peyton. Knowing her, she already knows. She’s always been better at figuring me out than I have.” Wren snorts softly and Cam shoots him a questioning look. Wren just gestures for Cam to continue.

“I’m not…I don’t know, when I figured this all out, I wasn’t ashamed or afraid or necessarily worried about if I was gay. Am. It feels….right. My parents, though…”

“Are they conservative?” Wren asks.

“Well, we’re from nowhere Nebraska. I really have no idea how they’ll react, but I doubt it will be pleasant.” Cam bites his lip and takes a deep breath, pushing that away. He’s got Wren in his bed, talking and open-limbed and easy and he wants to capture it, stretch the moment as long as he can before Wren backs off. He tilts the phone back so Wren can see and types, You’ve been soxiled. Oh and by the way, I’m gay. This makes Wren laugh, and Cam laughs too. It does feel a little liberating; not because Nate doesn’t know, but because he’s not yet said the words to anyone, and it feels a little like coming home.

~*~

My upcoming novel, What it Takes, will be available for pre-sale starting November 10th, so keep your eyes peeled for that!

I’ve obviously lost my mind. We’ll blame it on grad school. Life while grad schooling. Kids. Trying to remember to eat. NaNo is coming! Oh my…so many things.

but Psssst…I have a secret! in…17 days, What It Takes will be available for presale.

::Screeeechhhh, WHAT??::

Ok that was really only my personal reaction. It’s so soon! Writing a book is such a weird time process. This time last year, I was gearing up to write this thing for NaNo…. from concept to birth(ish), this was a one year journey. It has seemed interminable at times, and right now it feels like it all went in a flash. I love overlapping things apparently, so while the pre-sale, nail biting, hoping and praying part of the What It Takes tornado will be happening, I’ll hopefully be managing to write my next book during this year’s NaNo. Gosh, I put a lot on my plate. Most days I’d have it no other way. Writing is like breathing for me, and with grad school overtaking my life, I’ve not written at all since August. That’s crazy pants!!

I want to talk to you all about ALL THE THINGS when it comes to What It Takes, because this novel is so close to my heart. I think I might be more proud of this book than anything I’ve written before — or at least it’s in the top five. If you asked me why, I’m not even sure I could pin it down. Maybe it’s that I really lived and breathed Milo and Andrew’s lives. Their heartbreaks and triumphs and joy. So many of their moments were mine, only I got to give theirs an underlying, unbreakable, even if sometimes heartbreaking love.

But of course, not ALL THE THINGS can happen right now. Gearing up to November 14th, or perhaps sometime 😉 between November and January, you’ll find me in the corner, holding my own self as the clock ticks down to the actual release date!

For now, I’ll leave y’all with a little teaser: if you’ve never been to my pintrest, go on over, because I’ve made a little pinboard for What It Takes.

Kisses,

Jude.

PS: The Throwback Thursday Sock Saturday contest is still on! Come on y’all, I know you’ve got some great socks out there! Remember, the winner of the contest gets a free, signed copy of either Hush or What It Takes!!

ALSO, today through Sunday, all Interlude Press E-books are 25% off at All Romance!! DANG. Great timing. Get Hush, then grab some socks, win a free copy of What It Takes. Is that perfect or what??

Today is GLADD Spirit Day, and IP has gone purple in support of LGBTQ youth—but we’d like to do something more, So all day Thursday, we’ll donate $1 for every book and eBook sold at the IP Web Store, and a special bonus they are discounting every book and eBook sold from the IP Web Store by 25 percent! Save money and support GLAAD with every title! Just use the code SPIRITDAY at checkout for your discount!

Today is the PERFECT day to announce that I’ve changed up The Sock-Off contest. The winner of the contest can choose between receiving a signed copy of Hush or a signed copy of my upcoming novel, What it Takes!

One thing y’all should know about me. I love hashtags, but mostly when they make no sense, are used ironically, or are sarcastic (aka I’m being a bit of an asshole, but it’s all in good fun). Along that vein, I’ll confess that this #TBT post has nothing to do with Thursday, but is a total throwback post.

As we gear up for book #2, What it Takes, to hit the stands, I wanted to take a moment to revisit Hushand one of my favorite things about it: Cam and Nate’s Sock Saturdays.

What’s with the socks, you ask? Sock Saturdays was one of those impulsive moments that came to me from the ether and became a funny insight into Cam and Nate’s friendship, as well as a fun twist on an old school college tradition. If you’ve never been soxiled by a roommate before, rest assured you can live the experience with them.

The Sock-Off. Starting today, I want y’all tostart hunting down pictures, taking pictures, making, drawing up designs of the most unique, hilarious, out of this world socks. Once you have them in your possession (pictures I mean), post them on social media. Just make sure you mention me if you do it on twitter, #judesierra if you are on tumblr, and/or send me a link to whatever you post.

Those will come in handy because I’ll be choosing from those to select a winner, who will a free, signed copy of Hush.

Finding or creating the perfect pair of socks will take a bit, so the contest will be going for a little while. So have fun! Think outside the box. Make things! Pintrest! Share with your friends 😀

::title to be read in the voice of Mrs. Doubtfire:: (if you haven’t watched it, go go go).

I’ve been way remiss here, and I apologize profusely. Life can be so inconvenient always getting in the way of the fun stuff.

Right now there is a lot going on in the background over here in silly Judeland. Things are picking up on project #2, which I am thrilled about. I am very, very excited to share more details on that in the coming weeks and months. Of course, since I don’t like to rest, there’s a tiny prickling in my fingertips which might mean there’s a project #3 on the horizon!

Speaking of fun things on the horizon, I alluded to a new contest that’s coming up in my last post: The Sock-Off. There will be an official announcement kicking off the contest in the coming days. For now, start hunting down pictures, taking pictures, making, drawing up designs of the most unique, hilarious, out of this world socks. Those will come in handy because the winner of this contest will be receiving a free, signed copy of Hush.

What’s with the socks, you ask? Sock Saturdays was one of those impulsive moments that came to me from the ether, and became a funny insight into Cam and Nate’s friendship as well as a fun twist on an old school college tradition. You’ll hear a lot more about what it means to be soxiled, as they called it, soon enough.

Need to know all about it now? Lucky for you, Hush is available for purchase in tons of places, ready to be delivered right into your hot little hands!!